Loan Forgiveness Program

School Certification for the Federal Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program

Certification of a school will result in the school being placed on the annual Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits, a federal list of schools which will then allow certain teachers currently repaying a Perkins Loan or a Stafford/FFEL Loan to contact their loan providers and possibly have a portion of their loan forgiven through the Federal Loan Forgiveness Program for Teachers.

The criteria for determining school eligibility for certification are:

• Applicants for certification must be registered as a nonprofit private school with the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE). FLDOE will check the Private School Eligibility Application form against FLDOE's records and;
• Private schools must be nonprofit. A copy of IRS correspondence determining the school's Nonprofit Status is needed with the Private School Eligibility Application form and;
• School grades must be Elementary and/or Secondary (K-12). Schools with Pre-K only programs or classes are not currently eligible for certification and;
• Schools must determine that 35% or more of their students are considered low income in relation to the total membership (K-12) of the school* and;

Once you have determined school eligibility and believe the school meets all the above criteria, complete the Nonprofit Private School Eligibility Application form to request certification. A separate form is needed for each school. You can submit qualifying information for past years by changing the school year on the form and providing appropriate data for that year following the same process as for the current application school year. New forms must be completed each school year.

Nonprofit Private School Eligibility Application (PDF)

A letter will be sent to the requestor verifying school certification or denial once the Department of Education determines the outcome of the application.

Submit All Required Documentation To:
Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice OR FAX 850-245-0875
Turlington Building - Florida Department of Education
325 W. Gaines Street, Room 1044
Tallahassee, FL 32399

Questions regarding this form may be directed to Joy Mathis, Program Specialist, at 850-245-0502 or schoolchoice@fldoe.org.

Note: The Florida Department of Education does NOT make determinations as to teacher loan forgiveness. All questions about loan reductions need to be made by the teachers to the teacher's loan company and not to the FLDOE. Information concerning the cancellation or reduction of loans can be found at the following Federal site:
https://studentaid.gov/

* Low income determination can be verified through a current NSLP Claim Summary, Florida Tax Credit (FTC) verification of scholarship student membership, Confidential Family Income Surveys or a combination of two or more methods.